One of the Degiorgio brothers was interviewed in prison by one of Reuters’ journalists. What is interesting in this interview is the fact that Degiorgio did not mention Yorgen Fenech’s name. This interview was picked up and reported by the Daily Telegraph on 5^th July 2022. What is odd in this write-up is that towards the end, journalist Nick Squires drags in the name of Yorgen Fenech assuming that he is the mastermind behind this murder. This without realizing that one of the alleged hitmen did not mention his name but did state that the real mastermind is someone higher up in the echelons of power. This assertion contradicts what Melvin Theuma is stating.

Evidently, Degiorgio’s version of events did not go down well with Matthew Caruana Galizia, one of Daphne’s sons who is reported in the article to have stated that “George Degiorgio’s own words show he is a stone-cold killer undeserving of any reprieve,”  – when in truth, George Degiorgio stated that he felt remorse and was sorry for what he had done.

By further declaring that Degiorgio is “undeserving of any reprieve”, Matthew Caruana Galizia is sending a message to the courts that they should not consider his plea bargain in return for information about the murder of his mother. This is odd indeed. His statement only goes to show that this is yet a further manoeuvre by the Caruana Galizias to steer the issue in the direction they want and away from the real masterminds behind the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia. 

Perhaps, in order to have a more balanced report what needs to be asked is whether Reuter’s journalist also asked for an interview with any of the others allegedly involved in the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia? For example, did he approach Yorgen Fenech for an interview? By the same token then, all the others in prison should be given permission to be interviewed especially all those being linked to this case or other cases, and are still awaiting trial or have not yet been found guilty of whatever crime. Why is Reuter being so selective and partisan?

Hitman confesses to murdering Malta journalist, wishes he had asked for more money

Alleged hitman threatens to implicate others in the assassination plot

ByNick Squires ROME5 July 2022 • 6:52pm

A man charged for killing the Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia said he would have asked for a vastly higher fee had he known how famous she was. 

George Degiorgio, who until now has maintained his innocence, said his payment for murdering the investigative journalist should have been €10 million, not the €150,000 he was given for carrying out the hit. 

In his first public comments on the case, Mr Degiorgio threatened to bring down prominent Maltese politicians by disclosing information he has about the murder plot, which shocked the island nation.

He confessed to taking part in the assassination during the interview which was conducted in prison.

“If I knew, I would have gone for €10 million. Not €150,000,” he said, referring to the amount that he and two co-accused allegedly received for murdering the journalist, who campaigned against corruption and nepotism with a hard-hitting blog.

“For me it was just business. Yeah. Business as usual,” he told Reuters. He said that he now feels some remorse. “Of course I feel sorry,” he said. 

Mr Degiorgio, his brother Alfred, and an associate, Vince Muscat, have been charged with murdering Ms Caruana Galizia in October 2017, blowing her up in her car with a car bomb as she left home.

Mr Degiorgio was on a boat in the Grand Harbour of Valletta, Malta’s capital, when he received a message from Alfred, who was keeping the journalist under surveillance.

George allegedly sent a text message to a mobile device that detonated the car bomb.

The journalist had accused senior Maltese politicians and business figures of corruption, with speculation rife in Malta as to how high the assassination plot reached.

Muscat is serving 15 years in prison after last year pleading guilty to being involved in the murder.

George Degiorgio said he would plead guilty and would offer testimony to implicate others in the assassination in exchange for a reduced jail sentence for him and his brother. He said he is determined to ensure that “we’re not going down alone.”

He claimed that a senior Maltese politician had tried to organise the assassination of Ms Caruana Galizia in a separate plot two years earlier.

“We are willing to divulge everything we know about other murders, bombs and crimes provided we receive a pardon,” the brothers said in a statement via their lawyer.

“George Degiorgio’s own words show he is a stone-cold killer undeserving of any reprieve,” said Matthew, one of Ms Caruana Galizia’s three sons.

Until now, both brothers had denied involvement in the killing.

It is alleged that they were hired by Yorgen Fenech, one of Malta’s richest businessmen, to kill Ms Caruana Galizia.

Fenech was arrested and charged in 2019 but has not yet faced trial. He has denied any involvement in the plot, with his lawyer saying that the businessman intended to prove in court that “he at no point wanted, actively searched for or sponsored” the journalist’s assassination.

Fenech was named as the alleged mastermind of the plot by Melvin Theuma, a taxi driver and self-confessed middleman who escaped prosecution in return for testifying.

Ms Caruana Galizia had alleged that Fenech was the owner of a secret company known as 17 Black which, she said, was being used to bribe politicians.

The interview is part of a six-part podcast, “Who Killed Daphne?,” written and hosted by Reuters journalist Stephen Grey, which airs from July 11.